


When Times Were Darkest

by MagusLibera



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Pre-Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:07:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagusLibera/pseuds/MagusLibera
Summary: Crisis Speculation featuring the promo scene with Mar Novu and Oliver arguing about whether or not "it's time".“Please. All any of us ever wanted was our family. Together. Whole. We deserve that, you deserve that. You don’t deserve to die, you deserve to live. To have a life.”
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Kudos: 28





	When Times Were Darkest

**Author's Note:**

> CRISIS IS IN A FEW HOURS. The Countdown to Crisis is officially about to end and I'm severely hoping that this fic is completely off the mark.
> 
> I apologise in advance.

Chaos reigned over the field, foe frantically battling foe as far as the eye could see. But amidst the madness, the swirling trails of lightning, the ice blasts and flight paths whipping the wind into a frenzy, two of the greatest fighters of their generations stood back to back, quiver to quiver, leading the charge.

Oliver fired arrows relentlessly, taking down every enemy in his path as he attempted to shield his daughter’s tiny body with his own, without letting her know what he was doing. He saw streams of terrified people as they rushed past him, parting like a wave to get around the two archers without hindering their work. The process lasted for an undeterminable amount of time, the two of them repeatedly running out of arrows, only for somebody to deliver them more, or to pass them ones that had been collected from their fallen targets.

By the time that the last person passed them, even Oliver was struggling to hold his arms aloft and keep shooting, never mind Mia, but continue they did. They guarded the portal, patiently waiting for anybody who might have fallen behind or gotten the message late, and they tried to take out as many of the Anti-Monitor’s minions as was possible whilst they did so.

Eventually, the Monitor appeared in the fray, disintegrating enemies with each step forwards, he made his way towards Oliver and his daughter. “Oliver, it’s time.” He announced, for the first time displaying some modicum of urgency beneath his usual aloof veneer.

Desperately, Oliver whipped around to face him, not ready for the next step and certainly not ready to let anyone get left behind, “Has the planet been evacuated yet?”

“Not entirely.” Was Novu’s only response.

“Then it’s not time.”

Oliver turned back to Mia, reaching for yet another arrow as he moved towards her. Neither of them stopped their fighting as Oliver began to talk, “Mia, we need to find the stragglers. Make sure everybody gets off planet before the wave of antimatter completely takes over.”

“Oliver.” Novu insisted, “We must go.”

“I can’t.” Oliver took off, Mia in tow as they went in search for anybody who could still get hurt in the attack.

As it turned out, the ones left behind were some of the most vulnerable people who could have been left. In the hospital, Mia located children, the elderly, the injured and disabled, all abandoned by those who should have prioritised their care above anything else. They had been abandoned by the very people who should have ensured their safety.

It was impossible for Oliver not to think of Felicity and her time in the hospital, her time paralysed. It could have been her. Left alone by her carers, waiting for someone, anyone to come back for her until Oliver himself was finally able to tear himself from the fray to find her. He thought of his children, how little Mia would be helpless if she and her mother were unable to escape.

Furiously, he began to organise them all. The older children and the more physically able, he put to work pushing around wheelchairs and hospital beds that the others could not. He sat younger children and babies on the laps of the adults in chairs, he piled them onto the beds of those unable to get up. He instructs the little ones to hold hands, find a buddy and grab onto the side of a chair or bed and not to let go until they were told they could.

Some of them were crying and that primal, protective part in him that reared its head in every interaction he ever had with his children surged to life, letting him comfort them and reassure them of their safety, promising them that he would get them safe and help them find their family and loved ones.

The movement of the group was very slow, which made Oliver and Mia’s jobs infinitely harder. Just the two of them defending so many defenceless people against so many attackers was a difficult task, but adding in the fact that they moved through the city at a shuffle made it nigh on impossible.

That did not stop them. As slow as it was, as exhausted as they were, they managed to shepherd everyone towards the portal, where the rest of their team was. Under the protection of their allies, they sent the young ones through first and worked their way up from the weakest to the strongest adults. When only three were left, the Anti-Monitor arrived.

Oliver screamed, urging the last few through the swirling vortex as Mobius released a violent attack, aiming everyone left in the group. He trusted his daughter, knew that she could take care of herself and dodge the attack, but the woman sat in her wheelchair – who had stubbornly refused to go through the portal until everybody else had – would not be so lucky. He flung himself out of the path of the antimatter directed at him, and directly into the path of that aimed at her.

It struck.

As he collapsed to his knees, he saw the woman looking at him, shock written across her face.

“Go.” He managed to force out, the only sound that he had made since the blow had stuck home. She looked to the portal, and them back at him. “ _Go_!” he screamed.

“Thank you.” He saw, more than heard her say and then she vanished behind a swirling cloud of blue. Finally, his strength gave in, and he collapsed onto his back in the grass.

The sky was red, antimatter swallowing it whole. He could no longer see the battle around him, had no idea of what was happening beyond the fact that he was dying. The first face that he saw was Barry’s. That was confusing, at first, because he could not imagine why he might see Barry in his dying moments. Last time it had been his parents, his sister, his Felicity. He had thought that for this death he might get to see his family one last time.

After a moment, he realised that he was seeing Barry because Barry was actually there, in the flesh. It annoyed him. For as long as he was able to keep his eyes open and his heart beating, the only person on this battlefield whom he wanted to see was his daughter. “Mia.” He rasped out, eyes rolling back into his head as he attempted to move, to look for her.

“Mia.” He whispered again, slumping back to the ground as defeat shot through his heart.

“Dad.” Her sweet voice came. She was sobbing, but quickly replaced Barry in his field of vision, allowing him to relax at the sight of her beautiful, tear ridden face. So much like her mother.

“Mia.” He choked, “You’re- you’re so beautiful. Have I ever told you how much you look like your mother? Like my Felicity. Because you do. You’re just like her. You remind me of her more and more every day.”

“She used to say the same thing to me about you all the time.” One of her tears splashed on his face, making his own flow all the more.

“You promise to tell her how much I love her? You really will?”

“I promise. I promise, Dad, but if you just hold on we can save you! Please don’t die, Daddy.” She sobbed, cradling his face in her hands, “Please don’t leave me.”

Oliver sobbed in response, hearing his daughter call him Daddy for the first time finally breaking him, “You know that I love you too. I asked your mom to tell you every day, to make sure that you knew how loved you were. I want you to tell William too because the three of you… the three of you are my whole world and I’m – I’m so sorry that I never got the chance to be there for you the way that you deserved.”

“Don’t apologise. I know how much you love me. I have always known but I wanted to hear it from you. Don’t let go, stay with me. _Be there_ for me. For William. Tell him how much you love him yourself. Raise us. _Please_.”

“Mia.”

“Please. All _any_ of us ever wanted was our family. Together. Whole. We deserve that, _you_ deserve that. You don’t deserve to die, you deserve to live. To have a life.”

“I already got to live the greatest life because I got to be your mother’s husband, your brother’s father… and your father. I got to have our family.” And with those words, Oliver Queen died.

“ _No_!” Mia screamed, her body heaving with the intensity of her cries. “Daddy, no! Please come back! Don’t leave me! Please don’t leave me. We all love you so much, come back to us. _Please_.”

She felt strong arms band around her stomach, lifting her from her father. “No!” she struggled to get away but quickly realised that the arms belonged to someone with superhuman strength. “No! Don’t make me leave him! Daddy! Daddy.” She dissolved into incoherent moans that betrayed the pain that she was in.

Somebody knelt down next to her father, his own eyes red. He was crying as he lifted Oliver into his own arms. John Diggle. The Smoak Queens found themselves being carried off of the dying Earth in the arms of another Paragon of heroes and the greatest friend that their family had ever known.

Oliver Queen was dead.

Mia Smoak Queen took the burden of telling her mother onto herself.

She took his wedding ring with her.

**Author's Note:**

> ... and then Spectre took over Oliver's body and at the end of Crisis everyone thinks that he died but he actually gets resurrected and goes home and gets to live a long, happy life with his wife and family and everything is good. Wait... that's the plot to Fall of a Paragon. Whoops!
> 
> All mistakes are mine. I'm on Twitter [@MagusLibera](https://twitter.com/MagusLibera).


End file.
